Meet our sponsored riders! Go girls!

Each year giddyupgirl sponsors four riders that we feel are completely dedicated to their sport and are reaching their goals through pure perseverance and hard work. We congratulate our 3 sponsored riders Susan Seipel, Shoshona Newman and Chloe Newman and look forward to a successful year with you!

About Susan Seipel:-
I was born with Arthrogryposis Multiplex, a rare disorder characterised by fusion of joints and absent muscle formation in my legs. At the age of four I was taught to swim as physiotherapy and I developed a fondness for the sport being classified as a S7 disabled swimmer. Between 1999 and 2001 I held six Queensland State Games Records and three Australia National Age Records in freestyle and backstroke.

I started riding lessons at The McIntyre Centre when I was seven and have ridden 70 different horses over 15 years of riding at the centre. I represented Queensland for the first time at the Riding for the Disabled (RDA) National Dressage Championships in 1998 and placed 1st in my warm-up test against international riders. Since then I have competed at national level as part of the state team for ten consecutive years.

In 2006 I was selected to represent Australia at the FEI Pacific Rim Para-Equestrian Dressage International Competition, held at Milner Downs Equestrian Centre in Langley, Canada. Riding a borrowed horse named "Conclusive Talent," I won a bronze medal. I won the RDA Australian National Dressage Championships in 2006 on my own horse "Menora Wildfire", and in 2008 on a borrowed horse named "Mellizo", and also achieved the highest score of the competition.

My current horse is a rising 13-year-old Morab (Morgan x Arab) paint gelding named "Menora Wildfire". I first rode him at the 2001 RDA National Championships in Victoria where we placed 2nd in Grade 1. Originally used for endurance riding, I have taken over "Menora Wildfire" from his Morgan and Morab Stud in Victoria for dressage training in Queensland. We regularly compete in open EA competitions at novice level, against able-bodied riders.

When I am not riding horses, I enjoy other sports including swimming, rowing, sit-skiing, and wheelchair tennis, with the Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association of Queensland. In 2003 I completed my senior certificate, and Information Technology certificates I and II. I finished top of my class in a TAFE course in Horse Management in 2004. And I attained a Diploma in Applied Science with a Major in Equine Studies from the University of Queensland in 2008.

I am now searching for another wonderful horse with international potential that I can train and compete. My aims for the future are to represent Australia at more International competitions, the FEI World Equestrian Games, and the Paralympic Games.

More to come about Shoshona and Kira Lee Newman